Boris Kern (4 January 1983) is a researcher at the Department of Lexicology of the Fran Ramovš Institute for the Slovene Language. He deals with questions of modern lexicology and lexicography, word formation, semantics,  orthography, Slovenian as second and foreign language, language and gender, and queer linguistics. He introduced Multistage Word Formation methodology into Slovenian linguistics and presented it in his scientific monograph The Multistage Word Formation (Case study of the Verbs of Sense Perception, 2017) was published in 2017 by ZRC Publishing House. 

From 2021 he is a leader of the basic research project Formant Combinatorics in Slovenian, founded by Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency, and a member of the Commission on Word-Formation of the International Committee of Slavists. In 2024, he chaired the 23rd International Conference of the Commission for Word Formation at the International Committee of Slavists, titled Multistage Word Formation. As a co-author and co-editor he participated in the preparation of the third edition of the Dictionary of the Slovene Standard Language (eSSKJ), and is also working on the Word Family Dictionary of Slovenian as a Foreign Language. He has contributed to the development of ePravopis (orthographic dictionary), the School Dictionary of Slovenian, the New Slovenian Words (2012), and the second revised edition of the Dictionary of Standard Slovenian (2014).

He is interested in the social aspect of both language and lexicography, especially from the perspective of various minority communities and  social responsibility. He is co-organizer of the Conference on Disability Terminology (2018) and participates in the project Le z drugimi smo, in which the training of pedagogical staff in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, etc. tries to break down stereotypes among the participants and contribute to improve the integration of immigrant children. Since 2022, he has been a member and deputy chair of the ZRC SAZU Commission for Ethics, Integrity, and Equal Opportunities in Research. He has many years of experience in teaching Slovenian as a second and foreign language, which he also uses in research. From 2010 to 2018 he was a member of the Commission for Slovenian language examinations, and from 2013 to 2018 he was a member of the group for the preparation of tasks for the Exams of Slovene as a second and foreign language.

Kern edited the book of proceedings Media and Spoken Slovenian (2022)  and has delivered guest lectures at several national and international universities (Brno, Graz, Katowice, Krakow, Łódź, Maribor, Prague, Warsaw, Zagreb). At the School of Humanities at the University of Nova Gorica, he teaches courses on Corpus Linguistics, Language Technologies, and Slovenian as a Foreign Language. He also translates from Polish (he translated Michał Witkowski's novel Lubiewo into Slovenian), is learning Slovenian sign language and Persian, and in 2022 directed and wrote the screenplay for the short documentary film Kamnik_.

Research Areas

• lexicology and lexicography
• word formation
• neologisms in Slovenian language
• orthography
• language consulting
• queer linguistics
• Slovenian language as a foreign and second language

Education, Academic and Scientific Titles

• 2019: lecturer of Slovenian language
• 2018: research fellow, ZRC SAZU, Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language
• 2017: assistant professor of the Slovenian Language and research fellow, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
• 2016: MA in Polish Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
• 2014: PhD: Slovarski pomen stopenjskih tvorjenk glagolov čutnega zaznavanja (The Lexical Meaning of Mulstistage Derivatives from Verbs of Sense Perception) (Supervisors: prof. dr. Andreja Žele, prof. dr. Ada Vidovič Muha)
• 2008: MA in Slovenian Linguistics and Comparative Slavic Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
• 2001: matura exam, Srednješolski center Rudolfa Maistra, Kamnik

Employments, Leadership Positions and Competences

Employments:

• 2023–: supplementary employment at the School of Humanities, University of Nova Gorica
• 2017–: ZRC SAZU, Fran Ramovš Institut of the Slovenian Language
• 2018–2023: temporary employment, Faculty of Humanities, University of Nova Gorica
• 2017–2022: temporary employment, University Apeiron, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 2018–2019: temporary employment, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor
• 2015–2016: Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
• 2014–2015: Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz, Poland
• 2009–2013: ZRC SAZU, Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language
• 2008–2018: temporary employment, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

Leadership Positions:

• 2024: Chair of the 23rd International Conference of the Commission for Word Formation at the International Committee of Slavists, titled Multistage Word Formation.
• 2022–present: Deputy Chair of the ZRC SAZU Commission for Ethics, Integrity, and Equal Opportunities in Research.
• 2021–present: leader of the basic research project Formant Combinatorics in Slovenian
• 2019–present: leader of groups for word formation and for normative studies in the eSSKJ project
• 2014–2015: leader of Slovenian studies programme at Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz

Supervision:

• BA and MA theses supervision: Petra Kovač (University of Nova Gorica), Suzana Labazan (University of Ljubljana)

Other Experience:

• visits and guest lectures: Zagreb (2011, 2015), Cracow (2012), Graz (2017), Warsaw (2018), Lodź (2018), Prague (2023), Brno (2023), Wrocław – Wojnowice (2024)

Work in Editorial Boards and Expert Commissions

• 2021–present: member of the Commission on Word-Formation of the International Committee of Slavists
• 2024: Member of the program and organizing committee of the 23rd International Conference of the Commission for Word Formation at the International Committee of Slavists, titled Gradational Word Formation, co-organized by ZRC SAZU, the Jožef Stefan Institute, and the University of Maribor.
• 2023: Member of the program committee of the Slovenian Slavist Congress, Addressing Diversity in Language and Literature, co-organized by the Association of Slovenian Slavist Societies, the Slavist Society of Maribor, and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Maribor.
• 2023: Member of the program and organizing committee of the international conference Slovenian Migrations and the Integration of Slovenians Abroad in Bosnia and Herzegovina, co-organized by ZRC SAZU and the Faculty of Philology at the University of Banja Luka.
• 2022: Member of the organizing committee of the international conference Slovenians in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 20th and 21st Centuries: Linguistic, Cultural, and Economic Issues and Mutual Integration, co-organized by the Faculty of Philology at the University of Banja Luka and ZRC SAZU.
• 2020–2021: member of the programme and organization board of the international conference Challenges of Slavic Studies in the 21st Century, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor
• 2019–present: member of the editorial board of the Kamniški zbornik
• 2018: member of the organization board of the Conference on Disability Terminology, ZRC SAZU, Fran Ramovš Institut of the Slovenian Language
• 2013–2018: member of the Commission for Slovenian language examinations, Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
• 2010–2018: member of the group for the preparation of tasks for the Exams of Slovene as a second and foreign language, Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

Outstanding Achievements, Awards and Grants

• 2024: grant recipient, translation seminar within Archipelagos project (Poland)
• 2022: grant recipient, 50. Zagreb linguistic school
• 2021: grant recipient, 49. Zagreb linguistic school
• 2020: invited lecture at the international scientific conference Word and the Sentence in Slavonic languages, Institute of Slavic Philology, University of Wrocław, Poland
• 2019: invited lecture at the international scientific conference Polish-Slovenian intercultural dialogue, Faculty of Humanities, Katowice, University of Silesia
• 2018: member of the organization board of the Conference on Disability Terminology, ZRC SAZU, Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language
• 2018: lecture at the International Congress of Slavists, Belgrade, Serbia
• 2018: invited lecture at the Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz, Poland
• 2017–2019: co-author of the Problem Categories of ePravopis: Slovenian Normative Guide
• 2017–2019: co-editor and co-author of the ePravopis: Slovenian Normative Guide
• 2017: author of the scientific monograph Stopenjsko besedotvorje (Na primeru glagolov čutnega zaznavanja) (The Multistage Word Formation (Case study of the Verbs of Sense Perception)), ZRC Publishing House
• 2014: co-editor and co-author of the Dictionary of the Slovenian Standard Language, 2nd Edition
• 2012: co-author of the Dictionary of New Slovenian Words
• 2012: invited lecture at the Institute of the Slavonic Studies, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
• 2012: CEEPUS grant recipient, Faculty of Polish Studies, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
• 2011: CEEPUS grant recipient, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb and visiting researcher at The Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics